A place that discusses classic and contemporary horror films as well as horror related topics.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Halloween: Resurrection

Directed by: Rick Rosenthal

Release Date: 2002

I watched this on Halloween and I had a blast! Check the cast: Busta Rhymes, Tyra Banks, Sean Patrick Thomas (Cruel Intentions, Save the Last Dance), Katee Sackoff (pre-BSG fame), Thomas Ian Nichols (American Pie movies), and our lead, Bianca Kajlich (Rules of Engagement).
The first twenty minutes are throwaway because the film starts with Laurie Strode in a mental institution. Then the premise (thankfully the last one in the franchise, not including the Rob Zombie remakes) uses the popularity and rise of reality TV as their plot structure to frame the deaths that occur in this installment. Our starring cast won the opportunity to be stuck in Michael Myers home for a night and will be broadcast on the Internet live. And Michael Myers returns to his home to lay himself to sleep? I don't know. He goes back to the house after completing his mission after many sequels but if he weren't to kill anymore, this movie wouldn't exist, now would it?

What this film accomplishes is cementing itself as a time capsule of the sign of the times in the early 2000s - the rise of the reality television. Every one wants to be famous. None of the deaths are memorable and the story is clever-ish but its execution isn't novel. As people die off one by one, I was fascinated by how the people watching these deaths happen real time on the Internet were reacting - they thought it was fake. I wondered how teenagers now and in thirty or forty years from now would view this picture - would live Internet TV be ubiquitous or would it be strange or odd?

Overall, none of the characters were memorable except for Busta Rhymes' Freddie character. As the producer and owner of DangerTainment, his dialogue was laugh out loud funny every time. From his interaction with the television while watching a martial arts movie in a hotel room to his one-sided banter to Michael Myers, I was laughing so hard. The acting was subpar but his lines?
My favorites:

"Trick or treat, motherfucker!"

"Hey Mikey! Happy Fuckin' Halloween!"

Those two lines made the movie for me.
Not a picture I would suggest to the casual horror fan but for the Mike Myers fan, at least to end the whole series.